Say Hello to #4

We're very excited to be welcoming a new baby to our family in March of next year. We all really want a girl but are also well aware of our boy streak. And while many of you would like to know as soon as possible what the outcome will be, we are going to keep this one a true surprise. We'll let you know what it is in March!!

Halloween Preview

It's about this time of year that I usually sit down and try to figure out what Halloween costumes I'm going to be making. This year though a Halloween store opened up just around the corner from our house and we decided to see what they could offer. I ended up buying the kids costumes for about what I would have spent on patterns, fabric, thread, and other supplies. Plus I didn't have to spend three weeks sewing and countless hours trying to figure out how to make a Pokemon costume (Parker finally decided on Indiana Jones). I will miss making their costumes this year, but the convenience outweighed the time and there will be another Halloween next year!

McKay's Off To Preschool

McKay had his first day of school on September 2nd. He is going to Miss Melissa's preschool and loving it! She's told me that he does great, especially for being so young. He doesn't turn three until the middle of November. He loves being with other kids and ran right into school on his first day. He was also really excited to get to take a big backpack like his brothers. Sometimes it seems like the three hours he's gone last forever. But it helps me enjoy the time that he's home even more.

Bowling Fun

On Labor Day we took the kids bowling. Parker is always asking us to go and we thought this would be a great chance. It turns out that lots of other people thought it was a great day for bowling too. We had to wait about half an hour for a lane with bumpers to open up. But once we got our shoes on and names on the screen the boys were ready to roll!


McKay started things off right by running down the lane after his ball. We didn't even realize what he was doing until he was almost to the pins!


McKay made the cutest little bowler. Every time he rolled to ball down the ramp he immediately turned around and started cheering. In his third picture you can see that he's celebrating as the ball is making its way to the pins.





Parker was disappointed that he ended up getting the lowest score. We had to remind him that he was the only boy that didn't use the ramp and with a little more practice he would beat the other guys.


You gotta love the bowling shoes!

Let the Laying Begin

One of our laying chickens produced her first egg on August 30th and we've collected one a day since then. It's Parker's job to collect the eggs and he's been very responsible about going out every day after school to get the egg and put it in the refrigerator. Last Saturday we had scrambled eggs with all the eggs we had collected so far. They tasted just like store bought. We're hoping that our other hen will start laying soon.

Dallin's 5!

Dallin had his fifth birthday last Monday. To celebrate we went to Chandler Fashion Center the Saturday before and watched Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The boys all love the Star Wars movies and were so excited to see this new one (Dallin's wearing his favorite Lego Star Wars shirt in this picture). Afterwards we went over to the Lego store to let Dallin pick out a present. He decided on the t-rex set after about forty-five minutes (it was his second choice, his first choice was a $100 Star Wars set). Aaron, Parker, and Dallin got to work putting the dinosaur together when they got home around 4:30 and finished around 7:30. It had a LOT of pieces and the eyes even lit up!

Sunday we celebrated at my parent's house and Monday we had Dallin's dinner choice, pizza. He'll get to celebrate even more when we go to Aaron's family get together this coming Sunday. What fun to have your birthday last for so long! Happy birthday Dallin!

Parker's 1st Spelling Test

Parker had a great first week of school and finished it off with 100% on his first spelling test! We're looking forward to see many more of these as the year goes on. Way to go Parker! (And you gotta love a teacher that uses Stampin' Up! stamps!)

And They're Off!

The boys had a great first day of school yesterday. Dallin goes to Young Learner Kindergarten in the morning and Parker is in first grade. McKay wanted to go too, but he'll have to wait just a little bit longer.

Blue Ridge Reservoir Day Trip

My friend Julie and her family spent last weekend at Blue Ridge Reservoir and invited us up to have some fun. I decided to take the boys up for the day last Friday (well, it ended up being about three hours) and they had lots of fun. Each of the boys took several rides on the ATV and we all went on a bumpy ride exploring the forest in the Ranger. It was so pretty traveling down the winding tree lined highway on the way to and from the campsite. Dallin didn't share the same opinion though, he got carsick on the way home. He'll be sitting up front next time! Thanks for the invite Julie! The boys can't wait to come play again.

Parker's Birthday Week

I don't know how it happened, but Parker's birthday was celebrated all throughout last week. It all started a week ago yesterday. We had dinner with Aaron's family and celebrated Parker's birthday with ham and pineapple pizza. One of his favorites.

Tuesday night we went to Chuck E. Cheese's since I was working on Thursday (Parker's actual birthday). The boys had a blast.



I could not believe it when I turned around and saw all these tickets pouring out of the machine. I thought there was something wrong with it. But, I guess Dallin just knows what he's doing! Parker played the same game and got almost as many tickets.





The boys ended the night with over 300 tickets. Their highest number yet. They spent many minutes browsing the prizes before making a choice. Most of the things they picked were broken by the time we left. We weren't expecting much more though.




Thursday night I wasn't in the mood for cooking (again, it's happening a lot lately). I called Aaron and asked him to pick up some Orange Chicken from Panda Express on his way home. It's another one of Parker's favorites.

Saturday Parker had some friends over for a little birthday party. They went swimming at our neighbor's pool and had pizza and ice cream cake. Afterwards we went shopping and bought Parker's present from us, a new bike and helmet. He was very excited to hear that we may even let him ride it to school this year.

We finished the week off with dinner at my family's house last night. We celebrated Parker's and Amy's birthdays. Parker was so lucky to get an entire new school wardrobe (including underwear!) from his grandma and Aunt Heather and some fun activity books. He picked the dessert that we took, Lime Jello Cake.

Happy 7th birthday Parker! We love you very much!